Undead Solstice
by royza-hawkstang
Summary: The weather outside isn't exactly frightful, but the creatures roaming around in it certainly are. Running from a zombie outbreak in East City, Roy and Riza share a quiet Solstice Eve. [[M rating for a single strong swear word]]


_A/N: Happy Wednezday, everyone, and as always, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays! I'm back with a new holiday-set oneshot, and I will hopefully be returning to finish Tainted Blood before too long. It's been crazy the past few months and it hasn't allowed me time to work on it, but it's on my list of projects. In the meantime, please enjoy this short story._

_I do not own FMA_

* * *

**Undead Solstice**

When she looked back on when it all started, some days after it was over and they were all still somehow, miraculously, alive, it was a stereotypical way for such supernatural things to begin.

* * *

Darkness had fallen early, even earlier that it usually did in early winter, due to the heavily-laden clouds that covered the sky and muted the sunlight. A mere twenty minutes before the weakened sun had slipped below the horizon, the snow had begun to fall. The small group had stopped in an evergreen copse for the night, mostly sheltered from the weather, getting their camp set up and starting a small, warming fire.

"It shouldn't be too much farther," Fuery said, holding a wide map of the Eastern region out in front of him. "By my reckoning, we covered about twenty-five miles today. Add that to the distance we've already covered, and we should make it to the outskirts of Central by late tomorrow afternoon."

Breda stirred the slowly accumulating coals with a long stick. "It'd be nice if we knew what kind of reception we'll get when get there," he said grimly. "Things were bad enough in East City when we left. The number of cases in Central was low, the last we heard, but we've been out of touch for days. The humber is bound to have risen."

"We can hope it's not so bad they'd send us back." Roy's voice was quiet when he spoke. He sat leaning forward, one elbow balanced on his knees, the other arm cradled in a slight and held to his chest. "With the Eastern garrison overrun, Central is the most logical place for us to go." He grimaced, and shifted his arm in the sling. "That being said, I can't see any harm in lying low in the city for a few days, getting a lay of the land before we commit ourselves to a anything."

Seeing the flash of pain as it crossed his face, Riza rose from her place beside the fire, circling behind the others until she reached the Colonel. He saw her coming and sat straight, pushing his open coat off his left shoulder with his good hand. Wordlessly, Riza adjusted the splint around the healing break; Roy continued speaking as she worked.

"I last spoke to Madame Christmas two hours before we were overrun, and she had a safe shelter set up for herself and her girls. We'll head there first, use it as – _fuck__!_" He broke off in a curse as Riza unexpectedly tightened the splint, hissing a breath in through his clenched teeth.

"Sorry," she said sympathetically. "I thought it was better if I didn't warn you, so that you wouldn't tense up in anticipation."

"It's okay." He took the aspirin she shook from a tiny bottle in her pocket and dry-swallowed it with another grimace. "As I was saying," he continued, "we'll use it as a base of operations for no more than three days before we announce ourselves to the remaining leadership in Central. "

Havoc nodded toward his superior's bad arm. "If we can find Dr. Knox, you ought to have him take a look at that break, Boss."

"I'd have to agree." Riza settled to a cross-legged seat on the ground to Roy's left. "My first aid skills only extend as far as setting the bone and splinting it; you need a professional to make sure it's healing prperly." She reached over, touching his elbow gently. "Can you move your fingers any more?"

"Not much, but more than yesterday." His hand lifted fractionally in the sling, the fingers twitching gingerly. "Side effect of that door slamming on it. It broke the bone and rattled the nerves enough that they're taking their time to recover." He caught the scrutinizing look Riza was levelling at him, and added, "They _are_ recovering. Being able to move them a little now is more than I could do the morning after it happened."

Falman nodded in sympathy. "Once again, sir, I'm very sorry. I should have made sure you were clear before I tried to slam the door shut."

Roy's good hand waved the concern away. "If you had waited any longer, those Deathless would've piled through the door before you could close it. We had a hard enough time as it was."

Silence descended on the little circle as each of them slipped into memory of their narrow escape.

* * *

She saw their shadows before she saw the shambling, swaying, lurching forms of the Deathless themselves. Riza took a step back, watching the small horde of undead work their way around the corner of the hall. Her arms, wrapped around a small stack of confidential files, tightened their grasp as she held her breath to keep herself from gasping in dread.

She knew what they were, of course. How could she not? The reports had been coming in for weeks now; reports of people dropping into comatose states, appearing to die… then, waking and rising, much to their loved ones' surprise… and sudden dismay.

Now she herself was faced with them, in the familiar halls of East City Headquarters, the stuff of legends and scary stories brought horrifically to life.

She moved slowly, minimizing the inevitable noise of the files in her arms, freeing one hand to reach to the holster at the small of her back. The faint sound of the fastening snap coming undone, the whisper of metal being withdrawn from leather, the cautiously slow movement of her arm as she raised the weapon… these did not alert the mindless crowd.

The distinctive click of the safety being removed did.

At that sound, the head of the closest Deathless snapped up, not unlike a startled deer. Then another… and another. The jaundiced, sightless eyes stared in her direction, do ens of them, the cold gazes freezing her breath in her lungs. Her left foot twitched, wanting to run, but she willed it to be still. Down the hall behind her, in a room just fifty feet away where she had left the door standing open… were four people she cared very much about, and one that she might just sell her soul for.

If she ran, if she tried to save herself and not them, if she did anything except stand against this tide of decaying flesh and cut down, it would be betrayal of the highest order.

Betrayal, and her own heartbreak.

Setting her teeth, Riza aimed for the nearest Deathless, centring the tip of sight directly between the creature's eyes. She breathed deep, hearing the blood rushing in her ears, felt her whole body relax as she had a thousand times before. Her own personal calm before unleashing the storm.

Her finger tightened on the trigger at the same time that a soft snapping of fingers echoed along the hall.

Head and dry wind rocketed past her on either side, enveloping her in a cocoon of flame, dazzling her eyes even as sweat broke out under her uniform. Relief surged through her heart even at the same time that annoyance at having her targets stolen sizzled to life in her brain. Ignoring the hisses and shrieks of the undead, she turned to look back over her shoulder as the wall of flame faded, leaving the hallways scorched and smoking.

Roy stood frozen in the position he'd held when he sent the flames forth, both hands forward, fingers in the awkwardly folded post-snap position. Dark eyes locked on her and in a split-second, she saw his relief that she was unhurt mixing with the fading battlelight. His right hand dropped to his side, the left opening to reach for her.

"Run!"

She dropped the files where she stood, turning fully and dashing headlong back along the hall. The moans and groans behind her grew louder as the remaining Deathless realized their potential prey was escaping.

Roy waited tensely for her just outside the open office door. As soon as she was h, her caught her by the hand and pulled, pushing her through the door a moment later. She lost her balance briefly with the sudden change of direction, but Havoc was standing by and caught her easily. Roy came shooting through the door, one hand on the doorjamb, using it as a pivot point.

"Close it!" he snapped at Falman, and a second later, there was another snap.

The door stopped for a moment in conjunction with the most unearthly howl Riza had ever heard a human being make, before Roy's arm limply slid free from between the door and frame. The heavy wooden panel slammed shut just as the first charred head of a Deathless appeared outside.

Roy dropped to the floor, his right hand cradling his left forearm to his chest, heated curses hissing from between clenched teeth on shallow, panted breaths. Shrugging free from Havoc's steadying arms, Riza dropped to the floor beside her injured superior, resting her hands on his shoulders to him still, murmuring what few soothing words she could think of.

* * *

He watched her slip into her memories as she stared into the fire, content to let her linger there… but not too long. Too long immersed in the past had an unpleasant effect on a person, and one that could linger and work against mind and body in concert. When he saw the introspective look on her face become tonged with sadness and sympathy, he reached out and grasped her gently by the shoulder. He needed her to be at her physical and mental best, just as she needed him to be. They would have to keep each other afloat.

He looked up at the others, seeing the fatigue in their faces and posture. "Get some sleep," he said, his voice quiet and tone soft. "Hawkeye and I will take first watch; Havoc, you and Breda will take second, and Falman and Fuery have third."

Havoc glanced over his shoulder at the dark trees outside the little circle of firelight. "You expecting trouble, Boss?"

"Hoping against it, but not naïve enough to take chances." His eyes, too, strayed to the trees, ut he refused to let himself contemplate what might lurk in the darkness. "As long as there's at least one person on watch, our chances of spotting trouble in time get better. We'll be safe enough."

Fuery reached out and, patting the backpack radio he had been carrying since East City, smiled. "We should be close enough by noon tomorrow that I can start trying to listen in on radio activity at the Central garrison. I'll keep this close tonight, in case there's any patrols this far out."

"Good man."

The already quiet camp dropped further into silence, until the only sounds were sleeping men, wind through the trees and bare winter branches, and the faintly crackling fire. All the charm that surrounded a quaint, rustic campfire in the forest was camcelled out by the fact that they had had to flee for their lives only days before.

Roy was trying to quash the instinct to compare it to camping as part of the military when Riza reached over and curled her fingers around his. When he looked over, she was still staring into the fire… but there was an ease to her expression that hadn't been there before she was calm, in control, and as close to relaxed as she was liable to get.

"It's almost nice out here," she murmured. "Snow, moonlight, a fire…." She looked his way, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "If I didn't know we were here by force… I might think you'd done this on purpose, trying to romance me."

He kept his voice as low as hers, so as not to be overheard if any of his sleeping men were not quite as asleep as they seemed. "After the week we've had… I think I'd give my left arm for some time with you alone." He lifted his broken arm fractionally. "It's not doing me much good as it is."

Riza's eyes dipped to the sling, then returned to his face. "Here's hoping that any snapping you need to do in the next little while can be managed one-handed."

"I should be fine."

The silence that followed was a comfortable one, the kind that passes easily when two people are completely at home with each other. Roy welcomed the play of heat across his face; his gifts in alchemy finally being put to a use other than battle. Tiny snowflakes making it through the evergreen boughs made crackling sounds as they melted and fell into the fire.

He saw Riza's head tilt back, looking up at the drifting flakes. "Always nice to have snow on Solstice Eve," she commented softly.

His eyebrows shot upward. "It's Solstice Eve?" He supposed it could be possible; the escape from East City had come several days before the holiday, and keeping track of the date hadn't been a high priority of his since then. "Well then… I suppose I ought to stop carrying this around and just give it to you."

Reaching into an inside pocket of his coat, he withdrew a long, flattish package and held it out to her with a smile.

"What…." Brown eyes wide, she accepted the box, but slowly. "You've been carrying this since we left?"

"Of course." He winked. "Couldn't let my best girl miss out on her present just because the world's gone crazy, could I?"

* * *

Drawing a hissing breath, he forced himself to sit up, gently pulling away from the soft hand on his head. "I'm okay," he gritted, still cradling his arm to his chest. "I'm good. Deal with this."

He saw the doubtful look she shot him… but also the realization that she had another duty here, one that outweighed her worry for him. She gave him a firm look, one that clearly said she was only pausing this conversation, not dropping it.

She pushed to her feet, turning to the door… and Roy immediately lost his already tenuous grip on what was going on around him. The pain overwhelmed him, licking up his arm and onto his back like his own flames had come for him with a vengeance. He could feel the break in the bone like a line of cold electricity. Instinct told him to curl up, to resort to the evolutionary safety of the fetal position… but he had a duty here as well. A duty to five soldiers who needed him.

Fuery was still leaning over him, alternating between glancing nervously to the office door and watching him anxiously. Roy forced his hand to let go of his broken arm, and held it out to the younger man. "Help me up."

Carefully, gingerly, Fuery helped him to stand, and the background noise faded back in; growling, scratching, almost barking coming from the hallway… and complete stillness inside the office. Roy was suddenly very glad he hadn't been rolling around on the floor, moaning. At least… he didn't _think_ he had been. He could admit not being entirely clear on the last few minutes.

"The Lieutenant told us all to be quiet," Fuery breathed, so close beside him that Roy nearly jumped halfway to the ceiling. "If they think there's no one here, maybe they'll leave."

The silence crackled with tension, penetrated by the sounds from the other side of the door. Even then, those seemed to lessen, shuffling footsteps moving off down the hall. A few of the more persistent undead stayed out, nails scrabbling at the wood, occasionally accompanied by louder, hollow-sounding scrapes as they tried to gnaw the unyielding panel before them.

And then the first thud sounded, and the door shook.

Riza backed off several steps, along with Havoc and Breda, her eyes grim. "They've got a big one," she muttered. "Falman, what are our chances of a back exit?"

From near the window, Falman turned. "All clear for now, sir, though we might want to move fast, in case that changes."

Roy was already watching her when she looked his way for confirmation. She might have assumed command while he composed himself, but now that he was no longer on the floor, he was back in charge.

"Take anything that's useful and leave the rest," he ordered, starting for his desk. "ID, wallets, weapons and the like. Nothing unnecessary, I don't care how sentimental it is." He spoke the last words just as a second thud sounded from the doorway.

There was a brief flurry of activity inside the office. Each of them went to their respective desks, opening drawers, filling pockets, grabbing coats, hats, and gloves, and guns. Roy was about to close the centre drawer of his desk when he spotted the oblong box inside it… and hesitated. It wasn't necessary in the slightest; it was exactly the sort of sentimental thing he was ordering the others to leave behind….

With a glance to make sure he was unobserved, he shoved the box in an inside pocket of his coat and turned to the window. He would need to alchemize their path down the exterior of the building…..

* * *

Slowly, her eyes wide with curiosity, she lifted the lid on the box… and smiled. Pulling the glove from one hand, she lifted out the framed photograph. Nestled inside was a sepia-toned image of her, Roy, and Maes Hughes, all in uniform and looking a little worse for wear. Her hair was short, Roy's was shorter, and a crack ran across one lens of Hughes' glasses. All of them wore the distinctive overcoats of the Ishvalan campaign.

"Maybe a little on-the-nose, given the circumstances," Roy murmured. "One warzone inside of what feels like one. But it's one of the very few photos of the three of us together, and I thought you might want a copy."

"It's lovely." She cast him a mischievous smile. "And sentimental." Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek. "Happy Solstice, Roy. Thank you."

He pressed a kiss to her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Happy Solstice, Riza."


End file.
